Cleveland, OH,
21
May
2019
|
11:50 AM
America/New_York

Honoring our local EMS heroes

During National EMS Week, MetroHealth celebrates the remarkable heroism of local first responders at our annual Excellence in Emergency Medical Service Awards.

Firefighters, police officers and EMS crews were honored for their extraordinary actions responding to incidents around our region over the past year. Some examples of their valor:

  • One team was able to get a stroke victim inside MetroHealth’s emergency room just 11 minutes after arriving at the patient’s home.
  • Another used air bags to lift a vehicle off a pedestrian who had been struck and critically injured.
  • One group of first responders helped a hiker on the towpath after he’d had a massive heart attack.
  • A group of fire and EMS teams were able to quickly rescue three adults and two children who were seriously injured when their minivan struck a pole.
  • Another team saved the lives of two individuals severely injured in a head-on crashed between a car and tow truck.
  • One crew arrived quickly and saved the life of a man who collapsed in a drug store parking lot.

In all, roughly 60 individuals were honored. They hailed from the Cleveland Fire Department, Cleveland EMS, Parma Heights Fire Department, Fairview Park Fire Department, Fairview Park Police Department, Rocky River Police Fire Department, Brooklyn Police Department, Valley Fire District, Cuyahoga Valley National Park and the Brooklyn Fire Department.

“You arrive at the scene and turn people’s fears into hope,” MetroHealth President and CEO Akram Boutros told the award recipients and their families at the awards lunch. “You alter the outcomes of the worst days of people’s lives. Thank you for the commitment to our communities. Thank you for saving lives.”

About the MetroHealth System

Founded in 1837, MetroHealth is leading the way to a healthier you and a healthier community through service, teaching, discovery, and teamwork. Cuyahoga County’s public, safety-net hospital system, MetroHealth meets people where they are, providing care through five hospitals, four emergency departments and more than 20 health centers. Each day, our nearly 9,000 employees focus on providing our community with equitable healthcare — through patient-focused research, access to care, and support services — that seeks to eradicate health disparities rooted in systematic barriers. For more information, visit metrohealth.org.